I had driven ground cars before as it happened. The aristocracy of the Imperium was decadant and their pleasures were diverse. On Trajan Prime there had been a fad for driving expensive ground cars. I had never mastered the skill but the young men of the court there had been enthusiastic about giving lessons. I settled into the drivers seat and tried to make sense of the controls. "Any chance you can get this thing moving," Hadrian demanded. I could see dark figures moving through the gardens. Whether they were more assassins or secruity for the noble houses I couldn't say. I lay my hands on the controls and felt a jolt as the last few jolts of psycic energy drained from my hands. "Not as helpful as you would think," I responded. The glass in the rear panel exploded inward in a glittering shower. "How about that?" Hadrian asked sardonically. I grabbed the ignition lever and yanked it downwards. The engine purred to life and the car jolted forward just in time to collide with another carapace armored thug as he emerged for the hedgerow. He rebounded from the fender with a thump and crashed back through the hedge. Fortunately the vehicle was as sturdy as it was expensive. I slammed the accelerator to the floor and the car leaped forward with a squeal of smoke and burning rubber. We fish tailed wildy as we rocketed out of the alley. The car was exceedingly responsive and I somehow managed to turn over correction after over correction into something like a straight line. "Watch it! Watch it!" Hadrian shouted and I wrenched the wheel sideways, narrowly avoiding a sleek looking limosouine that was so bedecked in pennants and wood panneling it looked like a sailing ship. "Where am I going?" I demanded as I pushed the throttle down to the floor. Ironically it seemed easier to control as I picked up speed, heading down the paved roadway at something like sixty miles per hour. The elaborate wrought iron lamp posts flicked past at a blur as we headed down hive as quick as I could. "I think we lost them," I managed glancing over my shoulder. I turned back just in time to see a cargo 8 squeal out of a side street, it slid across the stones in a scream of tires. I slammed the brakes on and realised that I didn't have time to put a harness on about the time the steering yoke hit me in the chest, driving the air from my lungs. I bounced back against my seat, gasping for air and yanking the yoke sideways just in time to avoid rear ending the breaking cargo 8. "Go! Go! Go!," Hadrian shouted, guesturing up. Four gunmen were struggling to their feet in the steakbed. One of them, faster than the others, unshipped a las carbine and opened fire. I shoved the throttle open and we zipped past as las bolts blew flaming chunks from the pyrocrete. Hadrian cranked the window down and levered himself up half out of the window. "What are you..." conversation became impossible as his auto gun roared. Bullet impact sparked off the coming of the engine like fireflies. The windshield crazed and flew appart as the truck swerved wildly, lifting onto two wheels for just a moment. The front driver side wheel exploded in a spray of rubber and reinforcing wire and the big vehicle slewed sideways and turned turtle. It seemed to hang in the air for a second and then be sucked backwards as our accelration carried us clear. Debris and at least two bodies were flung into the air as it rolled over, collected a streetlight and than slammed into a ferocreet wall in an avalance of dust and flying rock chips. "Pretty slick," I complimented, my eyes wide at the ruin he had wrought. He pulled himself back into the cab and produced a fresh magazine from the Emperor knew where, fitting the boxy mag into place with a baffling series of clicks. "Lets not celebrate just yet," Hadrian replied, hooking a thumb behind him. Two more sets of headlights were closing rapidly from behind. Fast cars rather than trucks certainly. "I need to know where we are going," I told him, turning hard onto one of the artieral roads. We were moving out of the true noble canton now and the roads were lined with expensive shops. Luckily at this hour they were closed and the parked groundcars were very few.